1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a monitoring system for Internet browsers and more particularly to a remote monitoring system for screening Internet usage.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the wide spread use of personal computers and the Internet, Internet users are not limited to a sophisticated group of computer professionals. Rather, Internet use has expanded into all levels of society including usage of the Internet by children. Due to the many advantages of the Internet, access to the Internet has become almost a necessity of our daily activities, in business, school and home life.
The wide spread use of the Internet may presents a problem to parents, teachers and sometimes employers who do not want their students, children or employees to access certain undesirable web sites or information. Current firewall and filtering systems are by no means perfect because some undesirable web sites are hidden under a generic Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and there is no effective way to filter all of them.
Therefore, a need exists for a simple, effective and low cost system for monitoring Internet users to prevent the users from accessing inappropriate or undesired materials on the Internet.
A system for monitoring Internet usage, in accordance with the present invention, includes an Internet access unit for accessing the Internet, the Internet access unit including a browser for navigating on the Internet. A transmission device is included for transmitting browser activity and providing browser activity information to be transmitted to a monitoring unit. The monitoring unit is remotely disposed from the Internet access unit and coupled to the transmission device, the monitoring unit including a display for viewing and recording Internet activity of the Internet access unit.
Another system for monitoring Internet usage includes at least one computer terminal for accessing the Internet, the at least one computer terminal including a display for viewing Internet activity by a user, the at least one computer terminal including a browser for navigating on the internet. Means for transmitting browser activity from the computer terminal is included to provide browser activity information to be transmitted to a monitoring unit, the means for transmitting including a plug-in software package for collecting the browser activity information and an adapter card for transmitting the browser activity information to the monitoring unit. The monitoring unit is remotely disposed from the at least one computer terminal and coupled to the means for transmitting, the monitoring unit including a display for viewing URLs, contents of URLs and/or snapshots of video images displayed on the display of the at least one computer terminal which were transmitted to the monitor unit for monitoring Internet browser activity on the computer terminal.
In alternate embodiments, the transmission device may include a software plug-in and/or an adapter card. The Internet access unit preferably includes a personal computer or a televison. The monitoring unit may include a receiver for receiving the transmitted browser activity information. The monitoring unit preferably includes a control unit for sending messages to and turning on/off the Internet access unit. The monitoring unit may be coupled to the transmission device by a wireless connection or by a cable. The monitoring unit may further include one of a personal computer, a televison and a personal digital assistant. The transmission device may include a security device to provide password access to the system. The browser activity information may include URLs, contents of URLs and/or screen snapshots for the Internet access unit. The monitor unit may monitor a plurality of Internet access units concurrently.
A system for monitoring computer usage, in accordance with the present invention, includes a display access unit for accessing video data of a computer display. The display access unit includes an adapter card for retrieving video information displayed on the computer display, the adapter card including means for transmitting computer display information to provide computer activity information to be transmitted to a monitoring unit. The monitoring unit is remotely disposed from the display access unit and coupled to the means for transmitting, the monitoring unit including a display for viewing and recording the computer activity information from the computer display.
In alternate embodiments, the display access unit may include a software plug-in. The monitoring unit may include a receiver for receiving the transmitted computer activity information. The monitoring unit preferably includes a control unit for sending messages to and turning on/off the computer display. The monitoring unit may be coupled to the means for transmitting by a wireless connection or by a cable. The monitoring unit may include one of a personal computer, a television and a personal digital assistant. The display access unit may include a security device to provide password access to the system. The computer activity information preferably includes screen snapshots. The monitor unit may monitor a plurality of display access units concurrently.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.